How much to take to WDW???

[melissa180]

My husband and I are taking our honeymoon on our first anniversary, Early April. We are staying off property. Neither of us have been there since we were kids ourselves. We are planning 1000 dollars for food/spending. Is this enough or too much. We have no clue how much to allow for. All we have heard is that it is expensive to go....Please help!

 

[SnackyStacky]

Hi Melissa! I'm honeymooning in September, and I can't WAIT!!!!!!

I'd love to help you with your budget, but I'd need to know a few more things.

1.) How long are you staying?

2.) What are your eating habits? Do you eat one big meal and then just have light snacks throughout the day as needed? Do you need 3 meals of equal size? Do you not eat much at all?

3.) Where will you do most of your dining? Will you eat at Disney World or off-property?

4.) Will you have your own transportation (rental car, or driving instead of flying), or will you be using shuttles/taxis?

5.) Are you big shoppers? Will 1 souvenir be fine, or are you gonna just go nuts when you see everything? (I'm much the latter! )

 

[melissa180]

This was all a last minute trip so, we are staying at a Days Inn in Orlando and we are driving ourselves. We had though about eating breakfast before we got to the park, then snacking for lunch and a nice dinner. As far a souvineirs go, I can't imagine there is a whole lot we would buy for ourselves. My husband is a rather large guy (think football linesman) so its not like he's going to buy a lot of Tshirts. We are going for 7 days, but only 5 days in the parks (I get free Sea World Tickets for being an AB employee). So I guess it is like 6 days in a park. So I guess all in all were not big shoppers and not big eaters.

 

[yecats]

Hi Melissa and congrats.

Disney is very expensive but please don't let this deter you from a great honeymoon. As you will have a 5 day pass and the both of you haven't been to Disney in awhile, you will probably be spending more time (6 to10 hours a day) visiting and enjoying the parks. Food wise, I usually tell people that $50 per person per day is easy to use and I have seen many others set this limit as well. I know this seems high but you have to realize that hamburgers, fries and a coke in the MK will cost you $9.00 per person. Bottle of water or soft drink each will cost $2.00 up to $2.50 each. Small box of popcorn or ice cream $2.50 on up. You will save money by eating breakfast in your room and stopping in FL to purchase snacks and soft drinks as well. But honestly, you probably will buy at least one snack and some type of meal in the parks per day. Check out a site called wdwig.com. This site has menus for all the parks sitdown and counter service restaurants which is a great guide to show you some basic cost.

Next, souvenirs is a hard one to predict. You may think that your not going to buy a lot but may go down and want some fun reminders of your trip. For instance, you may want to purchase a ride photo of the both of you screaming your lungs out as you drop down the waterfall in Splash Mountain. Well there goes $15 dollars. They do have shirts in all sizes, there goes another $20-$50. My personal favorites are the antenna toppers which last visit went up from $3 to $4. You may forget your hat and absolutely need to purchase the goofy hat with ears for $30. Trust me, you never really know what you may spend on souvenirs at Disney. Hint, go to a few souvenir shops in Kissimmee (Hwy 192) as you can save some money purchasing a few things there.

Lastly, It is certainly a good thing to set a budget and $1,000 is doable but do a little more studying before you go. It never hurts to have an extra $200 or $300 on you just in case and don't forget, it may be awhile before you get to go again, and in the end it is your honeymoon. Find time to do something special for each of you including one really nice meal out.

P.S. Not everything at Disney has a pricetag on it. For instance, you can find romance sitting on the beach at the Poly (you do not need to be staying there) waiting for Wishes (fireworks show at MK) to go off. If you stay there long enough you will also see the water pagent go by shortly after 9:00 p.m. Best of luck to you.

 

[lucky_bunni]

I think that $1,000 will do fine if your tickets aren't included in that figure. Especially since you are staying off grounds, and possibly can find meals/snacks 1-2 times per day off grounds. If you eat at a nice, sit down Disney restaurant at once a day, I usually find that you don't have to eat another full meal. I usually snack several times from morning till late afternoon, just playing it by ear. Then have a late afternoon full meal at a nice restaurant. Then you can get something small before going to bed. I know my parents and I (3 of us) have gone to Disney several times on $1,500 including lodging, food, park tickets, and souvenirs. And believe me, I bought a ton of souvenirs. So I think $1,000 alotted to food, souvenirs, and misc. spending will be just fine.

Have fun on your honeymoon!